Parasitoid Population Biology

(Paperback)

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Extraordinary in the diversity of their lifestyles, insect parasitoids have become extremely important study organisms in the field of population biology, and they are the most frequently used agents in the biological control of insect pests. This book presents the ideas of seventeen international specialists, providing the reader not only with an overview but also with lively discussions of the most salient questions pertaining to the field today and prescriptions for avenues of future research. After a general introduction, the book divides into three main sections: population dynamics, population diversity, and population applications. The first section covers gaps in our knowledge in parasitoid behavior, parasitoid persistence, and how space and landscape affect dynamics. The contributions on population diversity consider how evolution has molded parasitoid populations and communities. The final section calls for novel approaches toward resolving the enigma of success in biological control and questions why parasitoids have been largely neglected in conservation biology. Parasitoid Population Biology will likely be an important influence on research well into the twenty-first century and will provoke discussion amongst parasitoid biologists and population biologists. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Carlos Bernstein, Jacques Brodeur, Jerome Casas, H.C.J. Godfray, Susan Harrison, Alan Hastings, Bradford A. Hawkins, George E. Heimpel, Marcel Holyoak, Nick Mills, Bernard D. Roitberg, Jens Roland, Michael R. Strand, Teja Tscharntke, and Minus van Baalen.

Reviews

"An excellent edited volume that provides a useful synthesis of knowledge in the field and clear guidance for future research goals. The book is not an exhaustive review of the field, but it is more readable because it is focused on a limited number of specific problems... [It] is concise and coherent enough so that readers will want to read the entire volume."--Timothy P. Craig, Ecology "A useful and interesting book."--Donald H. Feener, Jr.,The Quarterly Review of Biology

Author Bio

Michael E. Hochberg is a Research Director with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. A recipient of the Silver Medal of the CNRS in 1997, he employs both empirical and theoretical approaches toward understanding fundamental and applied aspects of evolution in host-parasite associations. Anthony R. Ives is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a theoretical ecologist who conducts empirical research on aphid pests and their parasitoids in agricultural systems.